1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a pressure infiltrating apparatus for infiltrating a fiber bundle with a metal to manufacture a fiber reinforced metal composite wire having a fiber bundle infiltrated with a molten metal and an outer surface of the fiber bundle coated with the metal, and more particularly to an orifice structure of the pressure infiltrating apparatus for positioning the fiber bundle around the fiber reinforced metal composite wire.
2. Related Art
Conventionally, a fiber reinforced metal composite wire is used as an electric wire excellent in durability and reliability. The fiber reinforced metal composite wire is obtained by infiltrating an inorganic fiber bundle such as a carbon fiber, a ceramic fiber or a metal fiber with a molten metal and the amount of the molten metal held on the inorganic fiber bundle is increased so that the durability and reliability can be more enhanced.
Conventionally, U.S. Pat. No. 5,736,199 has described a method of manufacturing a fiber reinforced metal composite wire for holding more molten metals in the fiber bundle in which the metal is infiltrated in a fiber of the inorganic fiber bundle at a predetermined pressure. The manufacturing method is carried out by using a metal infiltrating apparatus 30 shown in FIG. 3.
Referring to FIG. 3, in a metal infiltrating apparatus 30, an inorganic fiber bundle 37 to be inserted in a pressure chamber 31 and a bath container 32 is immersed in a molten metal 33 stored in the bath container 32 through orifices 34, 35 and 36 in the pressure chamber 31 filled with an inert gas, thereby infiltrating the inorganic fiber bundle 37 with a metal and coating the outer surface of the inorganic fiber bundle 37 with the metal.
The orifices 34, 35 and 36 include the entering orifice 34 for inserting the inorganic fiber bundle 37 from the outside of the pressure chamber 31 on the fiber bundle inlet side into the bath container 32, the exit orifice 35 for inserting the inorganic fiber bundle 37 from the inside of the pressure chamber 31 to the outside of the pressure chamber 31 on the fiber bundle outlet side, and the intermediate orifice 36 provided between the entering orifice 34 and the exit orifice 35 and serving to insert the inorganic fiber bundle 37 from the bath container 32 into the pressure chamber 31.
In the conventional metal infiltrating apparatus 30, in the case in which the fiber reinforced metal composite wire is to be thinned, there is a possibility that the inorganic fiber bundle 37 might be flexed or moved between the entering orifice 34 and the intermediate orifice 36 in the bath container 32.
Accordingly, there is a problem in that it is hard to concentrically coat the periphery of the inorganic fiber bundle 37 with a metal and to position the inorganic fiber bundle 37 on the center of the coating metal, that is, the center of the fiber reinforced metal composite wire.
The invention has an object to provide a pressure infiltrating apparatus for infiltrating a fiber bundle with a metal which can reduce a space between an inlet side orifice and an intermediate orifice, thereby reliably preventing such a drawback that a fiber bundle is flexed between the inlet side orifice and the intermediate orifice in a bath container and arranging the fiber bundle on the center of a coating metal.
The problem of the invention can be solved by a pressure infiltrating apparatus for inserting a fiber bundle through an orifice in a molten metal stored in a bath container in a pressure chamber filled with an inert gas, thereby infiltrating the fiber bundle with the molten metal and coating an outer surface of the fiber bundle with the molten metal,
wherein the orifice includes an inlet side orifice for inserting the fiber bundle from a fiber bundle inlet side of the pressure chamber into the bath container, an outlet side orifice for leading a fiber reinforced metal composite wire infiltrated with the molten metal from a fiber bundle outlet side of the pressure chamber to an outside of the pressure chamber, and an intermediate orifice provided between the inlet side orifice and the outlet side orifice and serving to insert the fiber reinforced metal composite wire from the bath container into the pressure chamber, and
a tip shape on the intermediate orifice side of the inlet side orifice is caused to be convex and an inside shape of a tip on the inlet side orifice side of the intermediate orifice is caused to be concave corresponding to the tip shape of the inlet side orifice.
According to the pressure infiltrating apparatus for infiltrating a fiber bundle with a metal which has the structure described above, the tip shape on the intermediate orifice side of the inlet side orifice is caused to be convex and the tip shape of an insertion hole on the inlet side orifice side of the intermediate orifice is caused to be concave corresponding to the tip shape of the inlet side orifice.
Accordingly, the fiber bundle is inserted into the bath container through the inlet side orifice and is caused to come in contact with a molten metal in the bath container under pressurization of the inert gas from the inlet side orifice to the intermediate orifice. Consequently, the fiber bundle is infiltrated with the molten metal and the outer surface thereof is coated with the molten metal.
In this case, the space between the inlet side orifice and the intermediate orifice is reduced so that the fiber bundle can be reliably prevented from being flexed between the inlet side orifice and the intermediate orifice in the bath container and the fiber bundle can be positioned on the center of the coating metal.
Moreover, the fiber bundle is simply exposed to the molten metal in a minimum time required for the infiltration and coating of the molten metal so that the damage to the fiber bundle caused by a reaction to the molten metal can be relieved.
In the case in which the space between the inlet side orifice and the intermediate orifice is reduced, there is a possibility that the fluidity of the molten metal between the inlet side orifice and the intermediate orifice might be deteriorated and the infiltration might not be carried out sufficiently. However, since the tip shape on the intermediate orifice side of the inlet side orifice is convex and the tip shape on the inlet side orifice side of the intermediate orifice is concave corresponding to the shape of the inlet side orifice, the fluidity of the molten metal between the inlet side orifice and the intermediate orifice can be ensured and the infiltration into the fiber bundle can be carried out sufficiently.
Moreover, the fiber bundle infiltrated and coated with the molten metal is inserted from the intermediate orifice into the pressure chamber. The fiber bundle in the pressure chamber is led out of the pressure chamber through the outlet side orifice after the molten metal with which the fiber bundle is infiltrated and coated is cooled.